


Lucky Charms

by meils121



Category: Leverage
Genre: Breakfast, Cooking, Domestic Fluff, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-22
Updated: 2017-12-22
Packaged: 2019-02-18 14:21:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13101993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meils121/pseuds/meils121
Summary: Parker only eats cereal for breakfast.  Eliot's determined to change that.





	Lucky Charms

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Melime](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melime/gifts).



            In all the time that Eliot’s known Parker, he’s only seen her eat something other than cereal for breakfast maybe four times.  He’s not sure if she’s addicted to the sugar rush or if it’s just habit, but he’s determined to find at least one other breakfast food she likes.

            He enlists Hardison to help him.  It’s Hardison’s job to stall her long enough in the morning for Eliot to make the breakfast food.  The first day they try, Parker lasts exactly long enough to eat half a piece of bacon before she’s standing up and reaching for her cereal.

            “You don’t like bacon?”  Eliot asks.  “Everyone likes bacon?”

            “I like bacon on burgers.”  Parker answers as she pours her bowl of pure sugar and drowns it in milk.  

            The next day goes a bit better.  Parker tries breakfast sausage - too salty, apparently - and blueberry pancakes - too fruity - and scrambled eggs - too _not cereal, Eliot_.  

            Eliot thinks he figured it out the day she tries his chocolate chip pancakes, but she shakes her head and says they just aren’t right.  

            That’s the hardest thing about cooking for Parker.  She knows exactly what she doesn’t like, but she’s not very good at explaining what that is.  She’s very picky when it comes to food, and Eliot really doesn’t know how she survived on her own for so long when the only hot chocolate she’ll drink is his gourmet, straight-from-the-Amazon cocoa.  

            They try Belgian waffles next, served with a healthy serving of ice cream on the side.  Turns out Parker doesn’t like strawberries and thinks that vanilla ice cream is too boring.  And really, Eliot probably should have guessed that one.

            He makes an omelette the next day, filled with all of her favorite foods.  Parker manages one bite before pushing the plate away.  

            “What’s wrong with it?”  Hardison asks, a little exasperated.  

            “I don’t like eggs.”  Parker says, and Eliot thinks that maybe she could have told him that weeks ago.  

            He tries every type of waffle and pancake he can think of, and the pumpkin waffles are a hit.  He thinks he’s finally succeed.

            Only Parker has other thoughts.  “Good.”  She tells him.  “But pumpkin is for fall.”  And she won’t eat anymore.

            Hardison, at least, has been enjoying the food that Parker doesn’t.  “I like it.”  He offers.  “Even if it is May.”

            “Alec -”

            “Just kidding.”  Hardison says, as he smothers the waffles in maple syrup.  At least Eliot’s finally got him using the real kind, not the store-bought fake stuff the man insisted on for years.  “These are awesome.”

            Granola and oatmeal get strong nos from both Parker and Hardison, and Eliot definitely saw that coming, but he had to at least try.  Scones are declared passable by Parker and awesome by Hardison, but prompt the two of them to speak in bad British accents for the rest of the day.  Even if Parker had loved them, Eliot will never be making them again.

            They’ve been trying for over a month when Hardison suggests they just buy donuts and give up.  

            “I’m not going to give up.”  Eliot snaps.  “We’re close.  I can feel it.”

            They aren’t close.  They try hash browns and muffins and four different types of bread.  Sure, Parker likes some of it - especially the coffee cake and the chocolate chip banana bread - but she insists that none of it is something she’d eat instead of cereal.  If she wasn’t so eager, turning up in the kitchen each morning with a smile on her face and asking what they’re trying today - Eliot would be suspicious that she’s just telling him she doesn’t like things.  

            Croissants get a B+ from Parker.  Crepes are well received but Eliot can see in Parker’s eyes that they just don’t quite do it for her.  

            He’s close to giving up.  There’s not much food he hasn’t tried.  Maybe she’s just been eating cereal for so long that anything else doesn’t taste right in the morning.  Maybe she’s just too stubborn.  Maybe there really isn’t a breakfast food she likes more than her cereal.

            “What are you making today?”  Parker asks one Saturday morning.  She sits on a stool at the island and watches Eliot pour through his favorite cookbook.  

            “I don’t know.”  Eliot says.  “I don’t know if there is anything you’ll like.”  

            He looks up in time to see Parker pout.  “Please don’t give up?”  She asks quietly.  “This is fun.  I like watching you cook.  And your food is good, I promise.”

            And, well, Eliot’s not exactly good at turning down requests from Parker.  So he flips through a few more pages and tries breakfast pizza.  

            “This is my favorite.”  Hardison says around a mouthful.  Parker just shrugs.

            Eliot goes back to the drawing board.  

            “What’s this?”  Parker asks, staring down at her plate.  

            “Cinnamon French toast.”  Eliot answers.  

            Parker frowns at her plate.  “French toast.”  She repeats.  She cuts off a corner of the slice of bread and tries a bite.  Eliot waits.  Nothing.  Parker finishes the bite and stabs another, then another.  

            “Well?”  Eliot asks when the plate is empty.

            Parker holds out her plate.  “This,”  She says, with all the build-up that she can create, “is amazing.”

            Hardison just about falls off his chair.  “Is this it?”  He asks.  “Do you like this more than cereal?”

            Parker’s mouth is full with her second serving of French toast, but that doesn’t matter.  She nods her head.  “So much better.”  She declares.

            And so - three months and countless breakfast foods later - Eliot finally found something he could make Parker for breakfast.  

            It turns out he created a monster, though.  For two weeks straight, French toast is the only thing she’ll eat.  She’s even more hopped up on sugar than she would be if she was eating her cereal.  But her face lights up in a way it doesn’t when she has cereal, and that’s enough to keep Eliot’s grumbling to a minimum.  

 


End file.
